surround volume

[Snu]

pretty much any modern sound editor (such as audacity) would be able to edit a wave file with quad channels... but i dont know of any way to edit already-encoded dolby pro logic channels.
one question, are you using joint stereo when encoding the mp3? that would probably seriously screw up the extra encoded channels.

after a couple google searches, i came across this:  http://www.hydrogenaudio.org/forums/index.php?act=ST&f=15&t=4639
hase some crap, but also has some useful info.
looks like it might just be a limitation of the mp3 algorithm... try the '--alt-preset insane' with lame, and see if thats acceptable. otherwise, use ogg, or forget the dolby altogether and export a quad channel wave and use that mp3 surround format.

i dont think having a vst that mixes more than two sound channels wouldnt do any good, mpt should be encoding the dolby channels before the audio is sent to the vsts, thus the vst would only see two channels.

also, im rather confused on how you are listening to the rear channel and using only stereo speakers... specifically on the portable player.
before you get too much into surround you really need to get a surround speaker setup.

[AmericanDiamond]

Yeah, surround speakers are definitely the next step for me, in addition to a new power PC altogether.

When I was using the WAV to MP3 encoder program I mentioned in a previous post, it had no other options beyond selection of the bitrate and mono/stereo, so I didn't know if it was joint or not, didn't know what it was doing behind the scenes.  Actually, I hadn't tried quad channel or even 32-bit stereo WAV files earlier only because that encoder wouldn't encode those.

I recently got LameXP and LameDropXPd like Sam recommended, but I haven't used them yet.  I did look at the settings in LameXP and I don't see any presets or preset manager (I DID see it in Winamp in the plugin section).  Should this option and more options be in LameXP (for encoding WAV, etc. to MP3) or the Winamp Lame plugin (for encoding a new MP3 from an existing one all from Winamp directly)?  Where and how would I encode into MP3 Surround?

Snu, I see your point about the VST.  Anywhere I play the MP3 files, including the two speakers and the portable with my earphones, it has the same effect.  When it comes to the channel name, you're probably just as confused as I am.  :oops:  It might be the center channel or the rear channel, I'm not sure, but either way it's what I had previously set to S91.

Nevertheless, I'm going to try out LameXP/LameDropXPd and see what they do while also continuing to look into the other file formats.  Thanks for the continued advice/info.

[Sam_Zen]

Maybe as an intermediate in this process, this free app could be useful : Multiwave.
It makes a multi-channel WAV out of any number of mono WAVs into several configurations.

[älskling]

I did look at the settings in LameXP and I don't see any presets or preset manager (I DID see it in Winamp in the plugin section).

Use the command line version of LAME. I think RazorLame allows for custom commandlines ("--alt-preset insane") if you feel you need a GUI.